Mukesh Shukla, Monica Agarwal, Kriti Yadav
INTRODUCTION: Understanding of family planning scenario among different societies and communities, which by and large reside in urban slum areas, might prove useful in increasing family planning acceptance by them and decreasing population growth. Unmet need is a valuable indicator for assessing the achievements of national family planning programs. OBJECTIVES: The present study was undertaken with the objectives to estimate unmet need for family planning among the married women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in urban slums of Lucknow and to determine the various factors that influence the unmet need. METHODS: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in slums of Lucknow City from February 2014 to September 2014. A total 452 married women in reproductive age group were interviewed through house to house survey with the help of a pre-designed, pre-tested and semi-structured questionnaire. RESULTS: The total unmet need for family planning was 69.0%. Multivariate logistic regression revealed socioeconomic status upper lower and below (OR 2.7; 95% CI 1.5-5.1; p=0.00); duration of marriage less than 1 year (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.1-2.9; p=0.01); less number of live issues (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.1-2.5; p=0.00); working status of women (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.1-2.9; p=0.03); social class i.e. OBC and SC/ST (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.1-4.6; p=0.02) were found to be independent predictors of unmet need of family planning. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed that unmet need for family planning was quite high among women belonging to social class i.e. OBC and SC/ST, with low socioeconomic status, duration of marriage less than one year less number of live issues and working status of the women.
